What could possibly go wrong?
by KnuxZimRyoko15
Summary: The tragic story of Dr. Cockroach. chapter one of who knows? author note: I had to reupload chapter three due to me being very tired when I wrote this, and accidentally getting a few things wrong.
1. Chapter 1

August 14th, 1958

In a quiet little town in the middle of nowhere, Oregon, there sat a pretty little cabin in the woods. It was surrounded by miles and miles of trees and breathtaking views, with a crystalline lake not too far away.

Lisa decided that this was paradise, and wanted to live here forever.

Breathing deeply, she hummed happily to herself, rubbing her growing stomach affectionately. And what better place to start a family than PARADISE, right? Just her, Joeseph, and their little baby.

Speaking of her husband, where WAS he? Lisa giggled to herself. Probably messing around in his underground lab again. Dr. Joeseph Delembre, PhD. World's most powerful mind. Mad scientist with a death ray in their closet. Soon to be father, and excellent dancer. She smiled widely as she headed down the stairs towards the sounds of science being created. Knocking lightly, she called out, "Joeseph? Darling? Can I come in?"

There was a slight shuffle, the sound of something dropping and a muttered curse, before the door swung open. "Sorry my dear..." Joeseph smiled sheepishly. "I was just in the middle of an experiment."

"When are you NOT?" She giggled and pushed him lightly, before sharing a kiss. "You're always down here." Joeseph chuckled good-heartedly, and Lisa threw her arms around his broad shoulders. "Mmm, but how IS it?" Excitement built insider her. "Is it ready? Have you done it?"

Joeseph couldn't hold back a mad scientist laugh. "It IS! I've just about done it! Here, let me show you---", He gently guided her into the room, "--Mind the mess, I haven't time to clean it up----"

Lisa gasped.

In the middle of the room stood a strange chamber, flashing and sparking and making strange noises. The door hung open ominously, eminating a strange glow from the inside. Joeseph couldn't contain himself. "This, my dear, ooh THIS is the answer!"

"What---What IS it?" She couldn't help running a finger over the small porthole, unsure of what to make of things.

Her husband grabbed her shoulders excitedly. "Darling, this is the Mutation Chamber! I finally found the DNA strand that gives cockroaches their hardiness, and if you mutate that with a human cell, it becomes just as indestructible. Now imagine doing that to ALL your cells---"

Fear creeped into her voice. "Joeseph, is it....is it SAFE to mutate yourself like this? I mean, what if something goes wrong?"

He kissed her on the cheek gently. "Lisa, I've tested EVERYTHING."

"What could possibly go wrong?"


	2. Chapter 2

December 4th, 1958

It was finished.

Joseph grinned wickedly at his prized creation. The mutation pod was finally ready and awaiting its first test subject. Months and months and almost a year of research and planning had finally come to fruition, and just in time too.

Little Evan had been born.

He sighed ecstatically, still reeling in his happiness. His son, a perfect little specimen of a boy, with his mother's eyes and his shock of black hair. Joseph had hardly been able to contain himself with pride at such a handsome boy. Maybe, he thought idly as he made the final adjustments, when he's old enough, he could help in the lab. Lisa may object, but Joseph would swear up and down that he'd be careful.

But with the arrival of his son came the anxious parental fear, fear of him getting hurt. Joseph knew his machine, and the information he had on the near-indestructability of cockroaches, could protect both his new family and the world, so work had increased sevenfold.

And now it was ready.

Setting up the small movie camera on the tripod, he eagerly set about recording this momentous occasion. "December 4th, test of chamber number one," he said, smiling at the camera and striding over confidentally, closing the heavy door with a loud CLANG. Closing his eyes, he awaited the mutation.

There was a flash.

Then, PAIN.

What felt like fire spread rapidly over every inch of his body, tearing into him, CHANGING him. Joseph couldn't even scream, as he felt even his mouth twist and deform. The world spun, and though he narrowly avoided passing out, he knew. How could he not?

SOMETHING HAD GONE WRONG.

Fumbling around in the dark for the door button, he stumbled out of the chamber, disoriented. What had happened? Joseph shakily raised his hands to rub his temples, to get his bearings.

What he felt wasn't skin.

For a moment it didn't register. What? Why was his skin.....He rubbed his head again, eyes slowly widening in fear. His hair was gone, replaced with something very hard, very smooth, and very alien. Thinking maybe the mutagens had somehow melted his hair, Joseph giggled nervously. It would be unpleasant, but it was very fixable. That was until his hands touched something that REALLY wasn't supposed to be there. It was long, wiry, and VERY sensitive to the touch, making Joseph gasp in surprise.

"Oh no....." A terrible thought entered his brain. He'd used cockroach DNA.....His fingers ran up it again, sending shivers down his spine. "Oh NO......"

Mirror. He needed a mirror.

Making a mad dash for one of Lisa's hand held mirrors he'd borrowed, Joseph braced himself for what he could possibly look like, but it wasn't enough. The sight was so foreign, so terrifying, and so mind-crushingly horrible that nothing could prepare him for it. The cockroach in the mirror looked ready to squash itself, and Joseph suddenly realized that it was HIM.

A blood-curdling scream escaped his lips, the mirror shattering against the floor.

He was a monster.

----

----

Lisa had been feeding Evan when the horrible scream had erupted through the silence of the afternoon. Fearing the worst, she gently set their young son down in his crib, running for the entrance to her husband's lab. "Joseph?! Joseph, talk to me!" She knocked harder on the door, a strange smell of sulphur wafting through the crack in the door. Pushing it open, the smoke burned her eyes, making her cough. "JOSEPH?!"

There was a shuffle near the back of the lab, and what looked like someone hunched over in pain. Joseph? Cautiously, Lisa walked slowly over to it. "Stay back!" It WAS her husband, though he was curled in a strange position, covering his head. "Just....Lisa, go back upstairs." His voice was strained, breaking with anguish. "Something went wrong...."

"Joseph, darling, are you hurt?" Naively, she reached her hand out to touch his shoulder.

He let out a strange, frightened sound and pulled away violently. "DON'T! Lisa, listen to me, GO UPSTAIRS."

Now VERY worried, Lisa grabbed him firmly and pulled him up. "No, if you're hurt I want to he----AAAAAAAH!!!" The giant cockroach blinked its large hazel eyes at her, feelers working furiously, and in her terror, Lisa fell backwards over an overturned chair. It couldn't be real, it HAD to be an illusion.... "Wh--What ARE you!?"

The cockroach made no effort to hide its tears. Shakingly, it sat down next to her, ignoring her murmers of terror. "Lisa...." her eyes widened. "Lisa, it's ME. It's your Joseph."

"J-Joseph?" She reached out her hand, stroking the creature's hardened cheek, staring into the impossibly large eyes.....Tears streamed down her face. "Darling, what HAPPENED to you?"

He smiled sadly, holding her hand like a lifeline. "I....I don't know, it---it should've worked, but...." He sighed, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I don't know, Lisa, I just don't know...."

"But--But you can fix it, right?" The fear had subsided, replaced by cautious hope. She smiled at him reassuringly. "You can fix it, Joseph?"

His feelers drooped sadly. "I could TRY, but....I just---I don't even know how THIS happened. It may take a while...."

Lisa pulled the distraught scientist to her, hugging him. "Darling, I KNOW you can do it. I love you."

----

----


	3. Chapter 3

January 17th, 1959

Lisa was afraid of him.

Oh she did an admirable job of hiding it of course, and she DID still seem to love him, but Joseph couldn't ignore the disgust in her eyes. The way she shook everytime he touched her cheek. How they weren't even sleeping in the same bed anymore.

Joseph couldn't handle that.

Ever since the accursed accident that made him into THIS, life had been increasingly painful to endure. On top of that, a cure was not coming as fast as he'd hoped. Whatever he'd done to mutate his cells had done an impressively good job of it, and was near on impossible to reverse.

But he'd keep trying.

He HAD to.

Days turned into weeks, and Joseph hadn't slept properly at all since it happened, one failed experiment bleeding into the next, alone in the dark of his lab. He didn't dare leave the safety of it. Someone might see him, and THEN where would they be?

Licking his non-existant lips in dull anticipation, carefully pouring a vial of unidentifiable red ooze into another (perhaps being tired and chemicals didn't mix, he thought bitterly), Joseph almost wasn't shocked when it exploded in his face. And of course, what ooze got on him didn't do anything but burn a little. Vaguely, he thought that such a mixure should've burned the skin off his hands, but really, he was beyond caring.

Lisa still had hope, but his was dwindling.

There had been....other changes he'd noticed. Horrible changes. Besides the antennae, which he found to be almost useful, his appetite was almost non-existant. Lisa, god bless her, tried to bring him lunch every now and again, but Joseph, try as he might, just couldn't eat it. His tastes had completely rearranged themselves, and though the food still SMELLED delicious, it just was too far beyond bland to stomach.

But that ham sandwich had been there all week.

He'd first noticed the stench of rotting food around Thursday, antennae somehow picking it up before what you couldn't call a nose did. The sandwich had grown a thin layer of mold, cultivated by the dark dampness of the lab.

And in a fit of hunger, the doctor had eaten it.

Joseph had wanted to puke. Not just from the fact that he'd eaten something that belonged in the trash, but the fact that it had been so GOOD....and how he'd eyed the other trays of food on its way to similar decay with such hunger....Something in him wanted to. A driving, instinctual, ANIMAL desire.

It frightened him so much that he threw all of it out and ordered Lisa not to bring him lunch anymore.

Sighing, Joseph rubbed his now-hard temples wearily. He was tired. Too tired to do anything, too tired to be useful, too tired to look for a cure that now seemed almost impossible.

Laying his head down on the cold steel of his table, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

How could it get any worse?


End file.
